Wednesdays here at my blog are usually Blog Mystery School days so I want to integrate the inner skills of that with the Success Plan for 2008 Your Best year Ever. How I am going to do that is a mystery to me at the moment but I am sure the higher guidance will get my fingers working and the inspiration flowing as it is doing now. There is, within you, what I call a Higher Self. This is the part of you that is impartial, intuitive, and contains the collective wisdom and consciousness of all of human kind and the universe. You could also call this part of you, Spirit, Soul, Divine Self, Super Consciousness, Higher Knowing or whatever fits for you.

Your Higher Self is an incredibly wise, conscious and loving part of who you are. Are you in touch with this part of you? You are if you feel guided; if your trust your intuition; if you have a part of you that observes without judgment, if you are guided by the wisdom of your heart which is directly wired to the Higher Self; if you meditate and know the wisdom of your inner stillness; if you listen to the knowing guidance of your emotional body; and other ways you know your are empowered by Source, the Universe, God or however you identify the creative force of all there is.

So far this is more concepts then practical application for result creating. I want to now talk about how you can use the Higher Self to guide you along the way. The best two ways I know how to do that are ways I have explored and found useful. You may discover other ways. Try these two and see how they work for you. The two techniques I use are listening inward and journaling.

Listening inward is simple yet I make it complicated at times because of my busy mind. When I take some time to quiet myself in mind, body and emotions then I am in an optimal state for inward listening. Mediation or just simply focusing on the breath are excellent ways to quiet myself down. In the still place within, I can pose questions or seek guidance simply by asking and then waiting quietly for a response.

They key here is listening patiently. There will always be a response. The problem I run into is my mind starts going and images come flying by and I push myself right out of the quietness into the now chaotic mind. This full powered, imaged filled and idea-generating mind is a gift but needs to be channeled. Quiet is the best place to communicate with your Higher Self.

The next method I use for guidance is journaling. I can sit down with a notebook and ask questions and the answers usually come easily. Instead of listening, I let the word come out onto the paper, which they seem to do rather effortlessly. I don’t know if others use this method but I would be curious to know if this works for you? I let myself be guided and it seems to happen naturally this way.

I have a word of caution here. The ego is more then glad to guide you at all times. That is not what you want to happen. So you need to be able to distinguish you ego from your Higher Self. That will take some discernment from you. The ego is clever and can sound like the Higher Self. Keys that the ego is driving the guidance: fear driven responses, want to be right, wants to look good in front of others, self-focused to the exclusion of others and you know the kind of stuff the ego is about.

Take some time today and in the next few days to become acquainted with your Higher Self. Whenever you have a few spare moments listen inward and ask to communicate with this higher wisdom. In a few short visits you will have a much better feel for this unlimited guiding force within you. Then ask the Higher Self to help you get clear about what you want to focus on in 2008.

Tomorrow, I am going to ask you to fine-tune thefocusing. Take some time today to explore your inner knowing and get a feel for what is most important for you in your life at this time. Remember having fun, feeling passion and purpose, loving what you do, and enjoying being who you are will make this next year one to remember.